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Entry Requirements
The 2009 BALA entry comprises several components and must be submitted in the Official Entry Notebook provided by the BEST IN AMERICAN LIVING AWARD competition by July 15, 2009.

Only ONE floor plan or housing unit may be submitted per entry notebook, except in the Rental and Best Community categories. The site plan, construction costs and sales figures should also be included with each entry.

To avoid disqualification, please familiarize yourself with these requirements and adhere to the specifications when preparing your entry:

1) PROJECT DESCRIPTION: Submit a 300-word statement describing your project context, its relationship to its surroundings, the design concept and the market segment for which it is targeted.
Additional information is required for entries in the following categories:
Interior Design: Include a detailed plan indicating the relationship of the room to the remainder of the house.
Rental Development: Include a list of project amenities, the site plan, the unit floor plan, construction costs and rental rates.
Best Community: Include site plans, softscape costs, a list of community
amenities and sales figures.

2) PHOTOGRAPHY: Entrants in categories 1–15 must provide a minimum of six and a maximum of 18 digital or 35 mm project photographs or floor plans enlarged to an 8- by 10-inch format. Photos should depict at least one FRONT elevation, one REAR elevation and four INTERIORS. High-quality photography is essential, and only photographs suitable for judging should be submitted.

When submitting digital photography, display an 8- by 10-inch, four-color print of each digital photo in your Official BALA Entry Notebook.

Include a non-returnable CD containing your digital images that meet the following specifications:

• Raster file resolution
• 300 DPI tiff or eps electronic file format
• IBM platform
• Minimum size 5 by 7 inches

           IMPORTANT REMINDERS:

• Do not compress placed graphics using jpeg or lzw.
• Do not imbed images in your file without also supplying original images (unless saving as a PDF).
• Remove all imbedded color profiles.
• Reed Business Information assumes no responsibility for poor-quality reproduction of noncompliant images.
• Entries that do not meet requirements will be disqualified without refund of entry fees.

TO ENTER:
1) Review the categories and select those you plan to enter. Each category you enter requires an entry fee.
2) Complete the registration form.
3) Return the registra tion form with your total entry fee payment by check (payable to Best In American Living Award) or credit card (fill out information on form) no later than July 1, 2009. Entry fees are non-refundable.
4) Upon receipt of your registration form and entry fees, you will be mailed an Official 2009 BALA Entry Notebook for each one of your entries.
5) Submit each 2009 BALA entry in an Official BALA Entry Notebook postmarked no later than July 15, 2009.

JUDGING
Judging is conducted by an expert panel of builders, design professionals, marketing professionals, land planners, interior designers and editors.

Judging criteria include:

• Site plan
• Exterior design/curb appeal
• Interior architecture/interior design
• Construction quality/cost efficiency
• Product sales success

Judges may designate:

• Finalists and winners in all categories
• One winner in each of nine geographic regions to receive the Best in Region Award (all entries are entered automatically in their appropriate
  regional competitions)
• Home of the Year, selected from the winners of categories 1–16
• Room of the Year, selected from the winners of categories 25 – 32
• Community of the Year, selected from the winners of Categories 18–24

The winning projects will be featured in an upcoming issue of Professional Builder magazine.
The names of the 2009 Best in American Living Award winners will be posted on www.ProBuilder.com after the award ceremony, which will be held in January 2010.

The following projects are excluded from the 2009 BALA competition:

• Any project in which the the architect/designer, builder/developer or interior designer (or land planner for Best Community) is a member of the 2009 BALA judges’ panel
• Any home owned or occupied by a staff member of the NAHB or Reed Business Information (Professional Builder) a Division of Reed Elsevier.

All Official BALA Entry Notebooks entered in the 2009 BALA competition will remain the property of NAHB and Professional Builder, which reserve all print and electronic publishing rights for all materials and photos submitted. Notebooks submitted will not be returned.

CATEGORY-SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS
Rental Development: Eligible to enter providing the first models opened or first units were completed between January 1, 2008, and July 15, 2009.

Neighborhood /Community Design: Best Community entries must include homes built for sale. They may also include rental properties. The most recent “For Sale” product line in the project must have opened between January 1, 2008, and July 15, 2009.

A phase or neighborhood within a master-planned community may be entered in the Best Community category providing that phase or neighborhood functions as a community of its own and no reference to amenities and features outside that particular phase or neighborhood is made in the BALA entry statement.

Smart Growth Community: To be eligible for any of the five sub-categories under Smart Growth Community, a project should be:

• Under active development
• A community providing more than one home site and with vertical construction completed to sufficiently demonstrate the relationship of buildings to plan

The context of the project must be conveyed through photography (aerial or ground), maps or site plans of peripheral communities to show the relationship of the neighborhood or community to its surroundings.

Judges will evaluate projects based on their ability to:

• Protect and provide access to the natural environment
• Incorporate a mix of land uses
• Use land in an efficient and innovative manner
• Encourage multiple transportation options
• Be pedestrian-scaled and pedestrian friendly
• Provide housing choices
• Respect local traditions
• Utilize infill opportunities
• Deliver a genuine experience of place
• Create jobs and affect the economic environment.

Because the principles of smart growth are broad and a diverse range of neighborhoods/communities are eligible for this award, it is neither required nor expected that every entry address all of the principles. Judges will award those projects demonstrating the best execution of applicable principles.

HUD Sec retary’s Award: This award recognizes innovation and design excellence produced through public and/or private efforts that expand homeownership opportunities for American families whose income does not exceed 80 percent of the Area Median Income (AMI). Submission requirements include:

• The development’s first home completed or first model opened between January 1, 2008, and July 15, 2009
• For a development with multiple unit types, the entry must identify the affordable unit submitted and denote the unit type’s locations throughout the development
• A Design Statement explaining how the project embodies innovation and design excellence
• A Finance Statement describing the financing structure of the development (funding sources and uses, mixed-income make-up and families served)

Interior Design: This category is open to projects from five areas of new construction and remodeling: 1) kitchens, 2) bathrooms, 3) specialty outdoor rooms, 4) details and 5) amenities.
Entries should include a Design Statement explaining the requirements of the space (e.g. client needs, cost, space parameters, target buyer, market strategy, etc.) A detailed plan highlighting the relationship of the room to the rest of the house is essential, as is photography specific to the project entered. The following criteria will guide the judges in their selection of:

Best Kitchen

• Overall use of product, design, layout (lighting, floors, cabinets, countertops)
• Functional strengths
• Creative product and material applications and aesthetics
• Effective use of the work triangle (sink, refrigerator and cooktop)
• Addresses unique user needs (gourmet cook, multiple cooks, etc.)

Best Bathroom

• Overall use of product, design and layout
• Effective use of interior space
• Innovative products/finishes
• Customized wall/ceiling treatments
• Effective storage
• Attention to detail (e.g. accent tiles, fixtures, cabinets, lighting)

Best Specialty or Outdoor Room

• Effective, creative use of interior space and design
• Special purpose design (e.g. multi-purpose, flex space, recreation room, spa area, media room, child-friendly, yoga/meditation room, wine grotto, artist’s studio, exercise room, loft retreat, screened porch)

Best Detail

• Architectural accent
• Specialty millwork
• Special product or vendor use
• Floor, wall, counter or cabinet detail (e.g. columns, arches, stair case, fireplace, drywall detailing, trim, moldings, ceilings, beams, flooring patterns, tile designs, specialty lighting, hardware, paint treatments, counters)

One product detail per entry. Photography may feature numerous perspectives on the same detail. Relationship to the overall house design is NOT a judging criteria in this category.

Best Amenity/Facility

• Community space (e.g. lobby; reception area; concierge; corridors; elevator lobbies and cabs; clubhouse; pool; spa; health and fitness center; children’s playroom; library; resident rooms; community rooms and centers; multi-purpose rooms; technology and media centers)

Emerald Award: This award recognizes new homes that meet green certification standards and achieve high design excellence. Judges may recognize more than one winner in this category. Submission requirements include:

• Must meet all entry requirements for categories 1-15
• Proof of green certification from local or national program